Zero's Chance
by Parmida Prime
Summary: King Cold had a third child, but he was too weak for the tyrant so the baby was sent to a backwater world to either get stronger or perish. Fortunately, he was found by a certain Turtle Hermit. Challenge from mellra. HIATUS


**Parmida:** Alright, so this is a challenge I'm taking over from **mellra**. I hope you'll all enjoy this.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't really own anything you'll find in this story.

 _ **Zero's Chance**_

King Cold, owner of the Planet Trade Organization and ruler of most of the known universe, scowled at the inky blackness of space from his ship's window. Today was to be a joyous occasion, as his third child had just been born. Cold was of a proud lineage, going all the way back to his ancestor Chilled, and had produced many powerful Arcosian warriors. His first two sons, Frieza and Cooler, even had the potential to surpass his might one day. The latest of the Cold line though, was disappointing. Cooler was born with a higher power level than most beings, and Frieza was born even more powerful than that with numbers well into the thousands. His latest son though...had a power level of _ten_. It was utterly ridiculous! His family was only known to produce powerful offspring, not one who was nearly the same level as the lower class!

Cold's scowl went from the window to the crying infant in the open crib in the center of the room. Due to how childbirth among his people was difficult at times, Cold had made sure that each of his children were born on his own private ship far away from anyone who'd try and take advantage of the tyrant in his weakened state, with only a few medical robots to help with the process. This was to Cold's advantage, as no one knew of his greatest humiliation to date yet. The easiest thing to do would to simply eradicate the child's existence right now and just tell anyone who asked that complications arose during the birth. As he thought this, Cold raised his right hand and pointed his index finger that started to glow a reddish light. Before he fired the Death Beam though, Cold sighed and lowered his hand. No, this would not do at all. While he was known to be utterly ruthless to most beings across the galaxy, the one thing Cold actually had any sort of soft spot for was his children. While he was disappointed in the child's apparent weakness, Cold couldn't bring it upon himself to spill one of his blood.

Turning back to the window, Cold's scowl tuned calculative. Even though he couldn't kill the child, there was no way he could bring a son with such a pitiful power level with him back to his home world or any other part of the PTO, it could very well ruin him! Instead, he went over his options. There had to be a way that he could either make the child stronger or, failing that, make sure no one finds out about his existence. As he was pondering this, the towering Arcosian thought of his first two sons. Both were considerably older than their newest brother, which might explain why he was born so weak as Arcosians usually didn't have a child so late in life as Cold did. The eldest, Cooler, was currently on an exploration journey with his personal Armored Squadron and would most likely continue to do so for a number of years. The younger, Frieza, was currently tasked with managing the PTO while his brother was traveling, so that he'd be ready for when Cold passed the throne to one of his sons. In fact, Frieza was currently dealing with a planet of warriors called the Saiyans...hmm.

Cold knew about the Saiyans, of course. They were rumored to be one of the most ruthless races in the galaxy next to his, and had only gained access off planet a little while ago in comparison to other races. But what made Cold really consider the, in his mind, barbaric race was their way of handling their offspring. The elites, the strongest of their race, would stay among the more experienced fighters in order to learn and master their greater power. The weaker though, were usually sent far off planet in the hopes of conquering it eventually, usually with the help of the Saiyan's ability to turn into Great Apes when seeing a full moon. While Cold found himself above the race of brutes, he couldn't help but admire their system. The strong would only get stronger while the weak had a chance to either get stronger or die in the attempt. This gave Cold an idea.

With a wicked grin, Cold turned around once more and strode over to the still wailing newborn in his crib. His towering form easily shadowed the baby as he picked him up with one hand and started carrying him to where the space pods rested in his ship. Once there, Cold opened one that was suited for deep space travel and laid his son in its confines. Setting the coordinates into the ship's navigation, Cold stepped back and observed his son one more time. The infant Arcosian, unlike his father and siblings, didn't have any purple on his body. His form was similar to Frieza as a humanoid being, albeit with a large chestnut-shaped skull with two horns that protrude at near 45 degree angles. He also has a tail with a spiked end, which is relatively thick in width that the baby clutches as he lies there, as well as having three talon-like toes. He has orange sections on his head, shoulders, and abdomen, as well as blue lined skin on his arms, legs, and cheeks, as well as his light orange skin on his face, feet, and hands. The infant has red eye pupils and his lips are darker orange. Also, the baby was quite small in size, almost half that of a Saiyan baby. (Imagine an infant first form Frieza)

"Well child, I finally figured out what to do with you," Cold said as if he expected the newborn to understand what he was saying. "I will give you a chance to get strong by sending you to a random planet. If you wish to take your place amongst the rulers of the galaxy, raise yourself above the level you're currently at. If you cannot do this, then you shall either die, or become forgotten in the passage of time. Farewell, Zero."

With that, Cold closed the hatch of the pod but, before it took off, decided to write his son's name on the front of the ship in Basic so that he'd at least know his name. With this task complete, Cold pressed the release button and watched as the tiny pod shot out into the blackness of space. The deed done, Cold turned back to his ship to relax. After all, there was no way for this plan to fail; either Zero became strong enough to earn his place in the Cold clan, or he would die and that would be the end of it. With that in mind, Cold went off to set a course back to his home world and pour a nice glass of wine to relax, not knowing of the changes of the future he just made.

 **Time Skip, Earth, Master Roshi's Island**

On a small island located in Earth's vast oceans sat a simple house colored a bright pink color and had 'Kame House' written on its side. In front of the house there was a beach folding chair that an elderly man relaxed on. The man was fairly short in stature with Hawaiian themed clothing, dark sunglasses that hid his eyes, and a thick mustache-beard combo that made up for the man's completely bald head. This man's name was Master Roshi, and he was considered one of the strongest men to ever live. Currently though, the aged master was enjoying the sun's rays while reading the latest bikini magazine while on occasion giggling perversely.

Suddenly, the sound of something heavy going at incredible speeds drew closer and closer to the island. Despite the earsplitting noise, the Turtle Hermit was somehow able to ignore it in favor of ogling the scantily clad females in his magazine. Only when what looked like a white hot meteorite slammed into the opposite side of the beach did Roshi look up with a start. "W-what the hey?!" he shouted out as he leapt from his beach chair, the magazine falling into the sand.

Cautiously, the elderly man crept over to the newly formed crater in his backyard. Peeking into the large hole, the man could only gape at what he saw. There, instead of a ball of hot space rock, sat what could only be a round space pod of some sort that was made of some unknown whitish metal with a circular red window. Picking up his walking stick, Roshi jumped down into the hole.

"My, my, this is quite a different sight!" he commented as he circled around the pod. "Don't look like any ship I'd ever seen, but how would it have been able to crash down here either? I wonder…is it a UFO?" With that, he carefully reached out to tap the metal sphere with his staff and the door suddenly popped open with an audible hiss. To Roshi's increasing surprise, what greeted him wasn't a 'take me to your leader' type alien, but what looked like a cross between a reptile and a human baby.

"Oh…Oh my, I didn't see that coming!" he said in astonishment as the baby started to wake up, opening his red eyes and yawning cutely. Hesitantly, Roshi reached in and picked the alien infant up gently. The baby stared at the man before curiously reaching up and yanking on his beard. Roshi winced, despite the baby's small size, it had quite a bit of strength to it. After freeing his beard, Roshi gently rocked the baby as he studied the ship. There was no real markings that he recognized to determine the ship's origins, but there were letters burned into the font of the door that read crudely 'Zero'.

"Zero, huh? I wonder if that's your name, little fella?" Roshi wondered as he studied the infant in his arms. The baby, instead of talking just gave a happy burble in the language that only newborns seem to know. Giving a nod, Roshi said, "Well, until your parents or your guardian comes lookin', I'll call you Zero for now. The question is though, what happens now?" the man wondered while stroking his beard with his free hand. Roshi was a man who considered himself a bachelor for life, never once has he really toyed with the notion of settling down and having kids. Though when he looked at Zero, despite his lizard-like appearance, a part of the old man's heart couldn't help but melt at the sight, especially when the baby alien clutched his tail like a stuffed animal and started to suck on his thumb. Well…he did all but raise his two disciples, Son Gohan and the Ox-King, so how hard could raising a baby (even if it _was_ an alien baby) be? With a chuckle, Roshi said, "Well, guess I'll be watching over you for now, Zero. Who knows, maybe I can shape you into one of the best fighters on Earth! And…" with this Roshi blushed while a goofy grin worked its way onto his face, "…maybe I can teach you to appreciate the finer things in life, unlike my last two pupils."

His mind made up, Roshi took Zero inside to settle him down while thinking of all he knew about raising a child. Little did Roshi know that he would help raise one of the strongest fighters not only on Earth, but the galaxy as well!

 **Time Skip (13 Years Later)**

Roshi stood calmly facing his protégé. While the years gave little change to the Turtle Hermit and the place he called home, the boy he adopted had changed quite a bit. "Alright Zero, one more time," Roshi declared.

"Alright sensei," Zero answered before starting to go through a string of katas.

The alien known as Zero had grown to be a little under half Roshi's height (around half first form Frieza's base height) since he was found, but the real noticeable difference was in his power. His strength could easily rival some of the most experienced fighters on Earth and then some, but if there is one lesson that Roshi had pounded into his horned head since he began his training was that there was always someone better than him. This in turn had made sure Zero never became too arrogant no matter how much stronger he was than his opponent. And despite some of Roshi's more…eccentric…mannerisms (which he had to cut back on a bit due to both taking some responsibility while raising a child and due to Turtle's nagging), the boy was fairly soft spoken and was one of the most polite beings you would ever encounter.

As Zero ended his katas, which were modified over the years to work with his body type, including a few for his tail, Zero powered up his ki in a rich blue color before crying out, "Hah!" and sent out a powerful ki wave that momentarily split the waters of the ocean.

Giving a nod, Roshi said, "Nicely done Zero. That's all for this form for now, so let's move onto your next form."

Five years ago when Zero was seven, Roshi had instructed the young Arcosian on how to pull out his inner strength as most warriors are able to do. When experimenting on how to do this, however, the two made a startling discovery. They found out that Zero had much greater power than he'd previously displayed, but it could only be unlocked by changing his form (1). Going on instinct, Zero had found out that he could transform into four different forms so far, each one stronger than the last. After getting over the initial shock of the strange technique, Roshi had decided that it would be best if Zero were to train in each of his forms for at least one hour each every day so he would be familiar with how each form felt and wouldn't lose his stamina if he had to transform in the middle of a fight (2).

Giving a nod to his adopted grandfather figure/sensei, the young fighter gained a look of concentration and his ki started to increase dramatically and the waves started to rock due to the power. Suddenly, his torso and arms grew in size and muscle rapidly, making him look slightly deformed before his lower body and head followed while his horns suddenly curved to form two 90 degree angles (Frieza's Second Form). Once finished, the water returned to normal and the now towering being let out a sigh in a noticeably deeper voice.

Opening his eyes, Zero said, "No matter how often I do that, it's still a rush every time!"

Cracking a grin, Roshi commented, "No doubt about that. I mean, with the whole 'tough and dangerous' vibe you give off and the physique that form gives you, I bet you could land any lady you want and-ow!" he finished with a yelp as Zero lightly smacked the back of his head with his now much longer tail.

"Get ahold of yourself sensei. Just because Turtle hasn't come back yet doesn't mean you can start cracking jokes like that," Zero admonished the older man with a roll of his eyes and a smirk on his lips.

"Cheeky brat, no respect I tells yah," Roshi grumbled as he rubbed the red spot on his bald head. Coughing into his fist, Roshi said in a more serious tone, "Well, let's begin going over your katas in that form, shall we?"

The two continued training until it grew close to nighttime. When they went to bed that evening, neither were aware of the return of Turtle in the morning, nor of the new adventures that awaited Zero (3). One thing was for sure: King Cold would be in for a nasty surprise years later!

* * *

1\. Most beings of Frieza's race are born in their true forms and develop their transformations as a type of buffer/limiter on their power. Zero, however, was born in his transformed state. Does this mean he will be much stronger or weaker than his siblings? Only time will tell.

2\. This is similar to the method Goku and Gohan develop during the Cell Games by staying transformed into Super Saiyan all the time so they become used to said transformation.

3\. This occurs the day before Goku meets Roshi for the first time.


End file.
